News of our current national shortage of baby formula has taken over online discourse this week. And rightly so: 40% of formula is out of stock nationwide, and when there are shortages this dire, people tend to hoard.

There are a few factors that have contributed to the shortage, including a bacteria that led to several formula brands being recalled by the FDA, supply chain issues due to COVID and the FDA’s trade policies and regulation of formula. But the most pressing thing right now is how to address the formula shortage.

Here’s one thing not to do: tell women to “just breastfeed.”

There are a ton of reasons women can’t or don’t breastfeed their children, or don’t exclusively breastfeed. But telling women to breastfeed in the absence of formula is not just ignorant in terms of bodily function: it reinforces the shame or guilt that many women already feel about not being able to, or choosing not to, breastfeed for whatever reason.

People are saying “just breastfeed” or “pump milk” do y’all understand how hard it is to create a robust enough milk supply to feed a baby?? You have to eat the right amounts of the right foods and any stress or changes to your feeding schedule will easily tank your milk supply.

— 𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 & 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚜 ✿ (@foreverloreezy) May 11, 2022

Worse still, people are coming out of the woodwork to offer wildly uninformed opinions about breastfeeding. Here are some of the conversations women have had to have with people about this, and the myths and misinformation they’ve had to push back against.

Today I had to explain to a grown man (aged 52) that women do not have a continuous supply of milk. He thought it was something that happened in puberty, that women get a period and milk at the same time. He thought that.

— ☆⋆Okie Space Queen (@OkieSpaceQueen) May 12, 2022

oh man, read a tweet where a dude assumed “about 20% of babies are probably formula fed” and I am in awe. You know like 75% of babies are totally formula fed or supplement breastfeeding with formula right?? BREASTFEEDING IS A PRIVILEGE 🗣

— riley sciarappa (@EndOfDaysWoman) May 12, 2022

When people say “breastfeeding is free.” 🥲

A head of cabbage is $2.46! pic.twitter.com/kXZlz8mXPX

— Brittany | Influencer Marketing + Social Media (@MissBeeBright) April 29, 2022

Many women die during childbirth.
Dead women cannot breastfeed.
Sick women cannot breastfeed.
Women are not cows.
There are many reasons for formula to be required and breastfeeding not happening or able to happen.
SHAME ON YOU FOR SHAMING MOTHERS AND FAMILIES! https://t.co/z45rdqZuvv

— Lily Crue (@LilyCrue) May 12, 2022

A few people have asked who this was in my book. I’m not going to say but what I will say is he doesn’t have much authority when writing about Roe v. Wade and the intricate relationship between the law and access to healthcare ✌️ pic.twitter.com/KTDarrdX4K

— Gina Rushton (@ginarush) May 4, 2022

If you don’t know much about breastfeeding, that’s okay: read this post, read information about it, read the informative thread below and listen to people’s experiences. But the number one thing you should do if you don’t know much about breastfeeding is to please, for the love of God, do not make arguments about a topic you know nothing about. Thank you!

You may be hearing the argument that before the rise of modern commercial infant formula, babies all ate breastmilk and everything was great. As a historian of infant feeding, let me tell you why that’s not true.

— Carla Cevasco, PhD (@Cevasco_Carla) May 11, 2022